Judge nixes request to dismiss sex case

Andy Hoffman

Thursday

Feb 21, 2013 at 12:01 AM

MOUNT PLEASANT - A district judge has denied a request to dismiss a civil lawsuit against the New London School District and a former track coach, who allegedly sexually abused a student for more than six years.

Attorneys representing the school district and the former teacher, Gina Sisk, asked District Judge Cynthia Danielson to dismiss the case because the lawsuit had been filed after the statute of limitations had expired.

"Neither NLCSD (school district) nor Sisk has satisfied its burden ... to demonstrate that no genuine issue of material fact exists regarding the application of the appropriate statute of limitations," Danielson wrote in her decision. "Therefore, NLCSD's motion ... and Sisk's motion for summary judgment is denied."

Danielson's decision clears the way for the alleged victim, known in court documents as Jane Doe, to go to a jury trial.

A trial date in Henry County District Court has not been set.

"Summary judgment (dismissal) is only appropriate where there is no genuine issue of material fact," Danielson wrote. "The court finds at least two genuine issues of material fact to be in dispute.

"First, Doe and the defendants disagree as to whether or not Doe provided NLCSD with notice of her claim before (the filing of the lawsuit) on March 2, 2012. Additionally, the parties disagree, and the court believes that the record is not developed to the point to resolve the question of when Doe's injuries occurred."

A key point in the request to dismiss revolved around an Iowa law prohibiting a school district from being sued more than two years after an alleged incident. In this case, the lawsuit was filed in 2012, more than six years after the alleged abuse ended.

Steven Ort, who represents the school district, and Sisk's attorney, Tammy Gentry, argued in court briefs "there are no readings in the facts under which the statute of limitations did not run out (long) before the plaintiff filed her claim."

However, Roxanne Conlin, Doe's attorney, said the "statute of limitations didn't begin to (run) until 2011 when Jane Doe discovered the causal relationship between her injuries and the sexual abuse."

Conlin, who filed the suit last March on behalf of the alleged victim, claims the 27-year-old woman was molested by Sisk beginning in 2000 when the girl was 14. Conlin claims the abuse continued for six years.

Conlin said she filed the lawsuit after Jane Doe began "seeing a counselor due to anxiety and depression that she was experiencing" because of the "sexual abuse she endured as an adolescent at the hands of Gina Sisk."

The school district argued if the allegations against Sisk are true, it was not within the scope of her employment. Sisk has denied any wrongdoing.

Conlin argued in court documents Sisk committed acts within her employment and as an a individual. She said while some alleged acts occurred in the course of her work with the district, other "acts occurred outside of school-sponsored activities, not on school grounds, or not during normal school hours."

"The egregious and continuous sexual abuse of the plaintiff was not an act commonly performed by teachers, many of the acts occurred outside the school setting, and the acts are seriously criminal in nature," Conlin wrote. "Therefore, Sisk was clearly operating outside the scope of her employment when she was engaged in heinous sexual abuse of the plaintiff at (Sisk's) home and at other non-school functions."

In the suit, Conlin claims some sexual abuse occurred while the student and teacher were on school-sponsored trips and following track practices.

Separate from the allegations against Sisk, Conlin claims the school district was negligent for allowing Sisk "the opportunity to befriend, groom and threaten children on school premises and at school functions."

She also claims the "school district was on notice of a sexual relationship between Sisk and (Jane Doe) on or before March 2003 ... but failed to intervene or make a good faith effort to intervene after being put on notice of possible sexual abuse in order to further their objectives of concealing a damaging story and retaining a successful coach."

Sisk, now physical education teacher at Keokuk Middle School, is on paid administrative leave. She was placed on paid leave shortly after the case was filed in March 2012.

Conlin has not said how much she is seeking in damages from the defendants.

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